Hottest healthcare fields today

Sophie curates content for Gap Medics, the world’s leading provider of hospital work experience placements for school and university students.

Sophie curates content for Gap Medics, the world’s leading provider of hospital work experience placements for school and university students.

While a lot of occupations forecast a decline in the job availability over the next 5 to 10 years, the healthcare industry is on a completely different pathway. With the whole generation of ‘baby-boomers’ getting into the senior citizen category, the number of job opportunities in this sector is projected to increase by almost 25% by 2020. The fact of life is that people will keep getting old, falling ill and needing treatment, and all the technology in the world cannot compensate for skilled healthcare professionals. Within the overall rise in demand, there are a few specialties that are expected to be even more highly in demand.

Here are some of the most in-demand healthcare careers today:

Registered Nursing

Registered nursing is one of the most in-demand careers in Australia today. Registered nurses are needed in hospitals, private practices, medical clinics and a number of other healthcare sectors that prefer to hire highly trained and experienced professionals. RNs across all specialties are in high demand with plenty of opportunities and job prospects to look forward to.

Home Health Aides

Home health aides provide assistance and care to the many people who are unable to live on their own or leave their homes. In addition to administering medicines and checking vital signs, they also help with everyday tasks in and out of the home. With the baby-boomers getting older, a lot of them need continuing personal care, which means that there is and will continue to be a huge demand for home medical aides.

Medical Assistant

Medical assistants perform clinical and administrative tasks at hospitals, clinics and other healthcare settings. Employment opportunities for medical assistants are expected to grow faster than average with abundant job opportunities to look forward to, especially for medical assistants who have obtained formal training and certification.

Pharmacy Technicians

These professionals assist pharmacists with the task of providing medicines and other healthcare products to patients. Pharmacy technicians perform administrative duties and do tasks such as labelling bottles and counting tablets but are not authorised to prescribe medicine or answer questions regarding prescriptions.

Dental Assistant

This is the most in-demand field job in the field of dentistry. Dental assistants help dentists in the clinics and at hospitals. They perform a variety of tasks from sterilising equipment and helping with procedures to briefing patients, help with x-rays and scheduling appointments. Dental assistants typically work flexible schedules, which allow them to take on a second job, go back to school or fulfil their personal commitments without having to give up their job.

Paramedics and EMTs

These professionals work in a wide range of settings, including ambulances, emergency rooms and helicopters. Paramedics and EMTs are relied upon to have quick reaction times and the ability to handle the persistent pressure of the job and because they are almost always first on the scene in case of an accident or disaster, this field is not likely to see a slump in employment at any time. If anything, this specialty is estimated to grow faster than average over the next 10 years.

Physical Therapists

Physical therapy is gaining a lot of importance. People with injuries and other physical problems look to physical therapists for complete treatment and rehabilitation after their injury. At the moment, there are not enough physical therapists available and a number of them have to juggle more than one job. This means that there is a huge opportunity to grow in this field.

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